Patient Portal Development Guide for Clinics & Hospitals (2025)

Patient portals play a key role in today’s healthcare, as they help patients engage more and make communication with providers easier. A 2024 report by Health IT Analytics shows that over 70% of U.S. healthcare organizations use patient portals. 

The market will grow at 16.5% annually from 2023 to 2030. In 2025, clinics and hospitals need patient portal software development to create custom portals. These portals improve patient access, simplify administration, and increase satisfaction. This guide shows you the steps to build a portal that fits your healthcare needs

What is a Patient Portal Software?

Patient portal software is a secure digital health platform that allows patients to access their personal health records, manage appointments, request prescription refills, and communicate directly with healthcare providers

They often connect with Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems. This connection allows easy communication, data sharing, and better patient engagement.

Purpose of Building a Patient Portal

The purpose of building a patient portal is to simplify administrative tasks for healthcare providers. Healthcare portal development aims to create portals that support this goal as part of healthcare’s digital transformation.

• Empower patients to take control of their medical records (past visits, lab results, prescriptions) 
• Reduce unnecessary in-person visits and administrative overhead
• Improve communication between medical providers and patients
• Book or cancel doctor appointments, message their doctors directly
• Increase transparency and trust through real-time access to health information
• Help patients follow treatments and improve health outcomes (get reminders for checkups or vaccinations, etc)

Patient portals connect care and digital convenience. They let patients access healthcare services anytime, anywhere. Good patient portal software development makes sure the system is easy to use, secure, and fits the needs of both patients and providers.

Types of Patient Portals

Patient portals come in various forms, depending on how they are developed, integrated, and used in various software types during patient portal development.

• Standalone Portals: Independent platforms not directly connected to EHRs. Typically used by smaller clinics or niche service providers.
• Integrated patient portal: Portals bundled within major EHR systems like Epic MyChart, Cerner, or Allscripts. These are tightly linked with clinical workflows.
• Custom-Built Portals: Tailored solutions designed to meet specific needs of a hospital or clinic. They offer flexibility, scalability, and control. These are often part of specialized Medical Portal Software development projects.
• Mobile Patient Portals: Healthcare providers design these portals for smartphones and tablets as part of patient portal app development. They send real-time push notifications, support biometric login, and work as mobile apps.
• Third-Party SaaS Portals: These portals follow a subscription model. They support multiple healthcare providers using a shared cloud-based system.

Examples of Patient Portal Software

Here are some notable patient portals in the market, recognized as top solutions in patient portal software development:

• Epic MyChart lets patients view records, join telehealth visits, and send messages.
• Cerner HealtheLife allows users to schedule visits, check lab results, and manage medicine.
• Athenahealth Portal gives tools for communication, billing, and appointments.
• NextGen Patient Portal works well for small clinics. It offers easy setup and simple use.
• Custom Patient portal Solutions: Hospitals like Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic build their own portals.

Patient portals help hospitals work better. They cut admin tasks and give patients a better experience.

8 Core Features of Patient Portal Software

To build an effective patient portal, it’s important to focus on the core functionalities that truly meet the needs of users. Understanding the essential patient portal features helps healthcare providers deliver a seamless and secure experience for patients. Below, we explore the key features that every patient portal software should include.

1. Health Records

Health Records let patients see their electronic health records (EHR) through the patient portal. This is a key part of patient portal software development. Patients can view their medical history, lab results, diagnoses, vaccines, and other data.

The portal pulls EHR data from hospital systems. Patients log in to view, download, or share their records with doctors. This helps patients manage their care and helps providers make better decisions.

Core components include: 

• Medical history
• Lab and clinical test results
• Immunization records
• Medical imaging (X-rays, MRI)
• Doctor’s notes and instructions

Unlike isolated data features, Health Records integrate multiple health data sources using advanced healthcare technology to create a full clinical profile, promoting transparency, patient engagement, and improving care quality while reducing errors.

2. Prescription Management

Prescription Management helps patients handle their prescriptions online. Patients can check their medications, get reminders, and ask for refills. Then, the system updates new prescriptions from doctors. Patients can download, print, or share them with pharmacies or clinics. To build prescription management, note to concentrate on:

• Prescription history
• Automatic refills
• Medication reminders
• Refill request interface with doctor feedback. 

Unlike Health Records, Prescription Management focuses on patient-doctor interaction for treatment adherence, ensuring continuous care, preventing missed or incorrect dosages, and improving treatment outcomes.

3. Appointment Scheduling 

Appointment Scheduling enables patients to book medical appointments online quickly and flexibly, then, avoiding phone calls or in-person visits. Users can view doctors’ real-time availability and select convenient time slots via the patient portal software development. This feature includes automated booking confirmations and reminders via email or SMS to reduce missed appointments. Patients are also likely to reschedule or cancel appointments as needed.

Key components include:

• Real-time doctor schedules
• An intuitive booking interface
• Automatic notification systems. 

Compared to traditional scheduling, this feature streamlines time management for both patients and clinics, minimizing errors and double bookings, and significantly improving user experience and healthcare operations.

4. Secure Messaging

Secure Messaging is a key telehealth solution that lets patients and doctors talk safely through the patient portal. Patients can ask questions, send updates, and get results without visiting the clinic. 

This feature uses encrypted messages to keep health information private. It is an important part of healthcare app development.

Core components include:

• Encrypted messaging inbox
• New message notifications
• A user-friendly interface for sending
• Storing messages.

Unlike regular email, Secure Messaging safeguards medical data from security risks while enhancing patient-provider interaction, trust, and satisfaction.

5. Healthcare AI Chatbot

AI chatbots, also known as healthcare chatbots, provide 24/7 support in patient portals using technologies like Natural Language Processing (NLP), Large Language Models (LLMs) such as GPT-4, and Machine Learning. They understand patient queries, generate natural responses, learn over time, and can even support voice interactions.

These chatbots handle FAQs, schedule appointments, send reminders, and guide users through portal features. By automating routine tasks, they manage up to 30% of patient inquiries, easing the workload on healthcare staff and improving efficiency.

Secure Messaging and AI chatbots are two key features that work closely to improve communication in patient portals. Secure Messaging provides a safe, encrypted channel for patients and doctors to communicate within the patient portal. AI chatbots integrate with this feature to handle common inquiries instantly, such as appointment scheduling, prescription refills, or basic medical questions. This reduces the volume of routine messages that staff need to manage, allowing healthcare workers to focus on complex cases. 

6. EHR and Third-Party Integration

Integrating EHR with patient portals through advanced patient portal software development connects all health data in real time, enhancing care quality, patient history accuracy, efficiency, and system scalability. It also improves interoperability between different healthcare systems.

Third-party integrations provide valuable clinical and administrative reports, helping clinics focus on service improvements and make data-driven decisions.

Key Components:

• Real-time EHR data syncing
• Third-party integration modules
• Reporting and analytics tools
• Interoperability standards (HL7, FHIR)

The portal continuously syncs patient data from EHR systems and incorporates third-party sources. This unified data is securely accessed by healthcare providers to support better treatment decisions and clinic management.

7. Lab Forms and Test Results

Lab Forms and Test Results let patients see their lab results and reports online. This reduces calls to the clinic. A good patient portal shows sensitive results carefully. For example, doctors share serious news, like cancer, in person.

Some portals use charts and graphs. These tools help patients understand their results. They can see changes over time and compare with past data. This makes it easier to follow their health and decide what to do next.

The main parts include secure access, visual tools, and clear communication rules. This feature enhances patient engagement and supports proactive health management while ensuring privacy and clarity.

8. Billing and Payments

Billing and Payments module helps manage financial interactions between patients and healthcare providers through a transparent and user-friendly digital interface. Patients can securely access electronic invoices (e-invoices), track outstanding balances, and complete payments online via credit cards, bank transfers, and digital wallets (e.g., Apple Pay, Google Pay). 

From the provider’s side, the system supports automated claims processing, co-pay and deductible calculations, and integration with revenue cycle management (RCM) tools. It also includes HIPAA-compliant encryption protocols to safeguard sensitive billing data.

Key elements include e-invoices, past payment records, and multiple online payment options. Compared to traditional methods, it reduces errors, improves clarity, and makes payment easier for patients.

Why Custom Patient Portals Are Crucial for Health Providers?

If you are running a clinic, hospital, or healthcare services, investing in patient portal software development for a custom patient portal is more than just a tech upgrade. It brings real value to your team, your patients, and your business goals. Here’s why:

Every healthcare provider operates differently. Your services, your workflows, and your patient groups are not the same as others. A custom patient portal lets you design features that match how your business works. You can include things like online booking, secure messaging, access to test results, health records, and flexible billing options — all tailored to your medical system.

When patients can view their records, book appointments, pay bills, or chat with staff online, your team spends less time answering phone calls or handling paperwork.This means fewer human errors and more time to focus on care.It improves patient satisfaction and trust:  They feel more involved in their own care, and they don’t have to wait or call for simple updates.

A good patient portal doesn’t work alone. It connects with your existing systems — electronic health records (EHR), EMR patient portal software, payment gateways, CRM, or even your scheduling tools. You don’t have to switch platforms or double-handle data.

As your clinic or business grows, your needs will change. You may want to add telehealth features, connect with wearable devices, or expand to multiple branches.A custom portal gives you full control to scale, update, or adjust without starting over.

How to Develop a Patient Portal System

Building a patient portal software needs clear planning and smart execution. You must know how to create a patient portal and what features it needs. Each step helps make sure the portal works well for both doctors and patients. Here is a simple guide to help you develop a patient portal system.

1. Analyze Requirements

Before development starts, understand the portal’s purpose and user habits. Requirements analytics avoids extra functions and adds real value to healthcare. Clear requirements guide the team to build the right solution.

• Clear goals help the team build a useful tool for both patients and staff.
• Identify user goals and habits: what patients, doctors, and staff want from the portal and how they will use it.
• Determine essential healthcare features: Pick features that support these goals, like booking, health record access, or secure chat.
• Gather requirements: Talk to users through interviews, surveys, or workshops to collect useful insights.
• Define project objectives and success metrics: Clarify what success looks like for both users and the business.
• Research competitors and industry standards: Learn from existing patient portals to identify best practices and compliance needs.
• Prioritize features for MVP patient portal: Select core features that deliver the most value quickly, leaving room to expand later.

2. Choose Software Outsourcing Partner

Selecting the right development partner is critical for project success. An experienced and reliable partner can provide technical expertise, ensure timely delivery, and help manage costs effectively. Poor choice here can lead to delays, budget overruns, or low-quality software. To find the right partner among the top patient portal vendors, you should:

• Evaluate vendor experience in healthcare software
• Check references and previous projects
• Assess technical skills and communication capabilities
• Consider cost and contract terms 

If you're looking for a trusted outsourcing partner with experience in patient portal software development, consider collaborating with companies that understand both healthcare compliance and usability. For example, at Golden Owl, we’ve supported healthcare clients globally in building secure, scalable, and user-centric platforms.

Golden Owl is one of the leading software outsourcing companies in Vietnam  with 10 years of experience in building custom healthcare platforms. Our team of skilled developers, UX designers, and project managers understands the unique challenges in the healthcare industry. We specialize in patient portal software development, managing everything from initial RFP in project management to final delivery. 

👉 Need help with your patient portal project? Get in touch with our consultants to explore a tailored development roadmap.

3. Design UI/UX

Good user interface and experience design is key to making the portal easy and enjoyable to use. This step focuses on creating intuitive navigation, clear layouts, and accessible features that encourage patients and staff to use the system regularly, which is essential in successful patient portal software development. To achieve this, you should:

• Sketch wireframes and test clickable prototypes early
• Ensure mobile responsiveness and accessibility
• Use large fonts, clear buttons, and high contrast for readability
• Choose bright and relaxing color themes: blue, green
• Follow accessibility guidelines (like WCAG) for inclusivity
• Test design concepts with real users
• Refine based on feedbacks

4. Develop MVP Version

Building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is a smart approach in patient portal software development. Utilizing an effective MVP development service allows healthcare portal faster released and gained early user feedback. By testing core features in a real environment, healthcare providers can make informed improvements before committing to full-scale healthcare portal development, ultimately reducing risks and controlling costs.

• Develop essential features only
• Implement secure data handling
• Set up basic patient and staff accounts
• Integrate with existing hospital systems if possible
• Prepare for initial user testing

5. Test and Quality Assurance

Testing is a key step in patient portal software development. It ensures the system works correctly, safely, and reliably. Testing stops bugs, security risks, and bad user experiences. These issues can hurt patient trust or disrupt healthcare work. Testing also helps meet rules and deliver a quality product in healthcare app development.

• Perform functional and performance testing
• Conduct security and privacy audits
• Test user workflows end-to-end
• Fix identified issues promptly
• Document test results

6. Launch and User Training

A smooth launch and proper training are essential parts of patient portal software development, helping users adopt the new system quickly and confidently. This step minimizes confusion and resistance, maximizing the portal’s impact and encouraging long-term engagement. To achieve this, you should:

• Plan a rollout strategy (phased or full launch)
• Provide user manuals and tutorials
• Train staff and support patients
• Set up customer support channels
• Collect user feedback for continuous improvement

7. Maintain and Update

Ongoing maintenance and updates keep the portal secure, compatible, and aligned with evolving user needs. Regular improvements enhance user satisfaction and system longevity—making this a crucial phase in any patient portal software development project. To ensure your patient portal remains effective and future-ready, it's essential to focus on the following key maintenance activities:

• Monitor system performance
• Fix bugs and security vulnerabilities
• Add new features based on user feedback
• Update software for compliance and tech upgrades
• Provide ongoing user support

How Much Does It Cost to Develop Patient Portal Software?

Typically, portal software development for a custom patient portal can cost anywhere from $30,000 to $150,000 or more, depending on your specific requirements.

The total cost depends on several factors, such as the features you want, the complexity of the system, and the development approach.  Here to sum up factors of patient portal software cost:

• Features increase cost: More features like appointment scheduling, messaging, billing, and test results raise the price.
• Customization costs more: Custom portals need extra design and coding.
• Integration adds cost: Connecting with EHR and other systems takes more work.
• Design matters: User-friendly and responsive designs need more time and effort.
• Development team affects cost: Prices vary if you hire in-house, freelancers, or outsource.
• Maintenance costs add up: Updates, bug fixes, and support increase the total cost.

By understanding these factors, you can better plan your budget and choose the right patient portal software development path for your patient portal.

Conclusion

Patient portal software development helps connect patients, doctors, and staff in one secure platform, streamlining appointment scheduling, prescription management, billing, and communication. By carefully analyzing requirements, choosing the right partner, and focusing on user-friendly design, healthcare providers can build a portal that meets their unique needs and enhances patient satisfaction. Investing in this technology is a step toward modern, patient-centered care.

FAQs

Q1. Can patients use the portal on mobile?

Yes. Most patient portals work on phones and tablets. Many offer apps for iOS and Android. Patients can check their health data anytime, anywhere.

Q2. How long does it take to build a portal?

It usually takes 3 to 6 months. The time depends on how many features you need and how complex the system is.

Q3. Can a portal connect to hospital systems?

Yes. Most portals connect easily with EMRs and other tools. This helps hospitals share data in real time and work more smoothly.

Q4. Is the portal secure?

Yes. Patient portals use strong encryption and access control. They follow healthcare rules to protect patient data.

Q5. Is custom development more expensive?

Yes, usually. Custom portals cost more at first, but they fit your needs better. Many providers choose them for long-term value.